Some subscribers to
Math-Teach might be interested in a recent post "Effects of
Poverty on U.S. Children's Educational Achievement Redux" [Hake
(2013b)]. The abstract reads:

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ABSTRACT: In
response to my post "Barriers to Better K-12 Math Education:
Poverty and the Inadequate Undergraduate Education of Prospective K-12
Teachers" [Hake (2013a)] at <http://bit.ly/V6azOZ>, Ed Wall
(2013b), in his Math-Learn post at
<http://yhoo.it/10CO8af>.
, made 2 points: (1) My statement that Wall implied that the dumbing
down of elementary school mathematics in the U.S. is due to Math
Education Researcher's preoccupation with the secondary years is
"more than a little un-thoughtful." (2) His post "Re:
Do We Learn All the Math We Need For Ordinary Life Before 5th Grade?"
[Wall (2013a)] at <http://yhoo.it/W6fn5y> had more to do with
(a) his agreement with David Hawkins - see signature quote - which
Wall assumes I have refuted, and (b) people such as myself who "
'imply' that children are less than capable because of their
socioeconomic status." [Non-subscribers to Math-Learn can
access Wall's post by taking a minute to "Join this List" at
the Math-Learn archives <http://yhoo.it/fF6D9w>.]

Here I refute Wall's 2 points with emphasis on Wall's incorrect point
2b: "people such as myself 'imply' that children are less
than capable because of their socioeconomic status." On the
contrary, I implied that children *in poverty* are less capable of
*academic achievement* than children not in poverty.

I think that children in poverty are probably just as *inherently*
capable as children not in poverty, but societal and home factors
conspire against their academic achievement. For example many of them:
(a) are subjected to poor teaching, (b) attend dilapidated schools
with high student and teacher turnover, (c) have academically
uninvolved parents, (d) partake of few out-of-school enrichment
activities, (e) have limited access to books, (f) receive inadequate
nutrition, (g) live in slums, (h) come from broken families, (i) are
threatened by gang violence, (j) have few academic role models,
and (k) suffer from environmental hazards such as lead poisoning.
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". . .I will look primarily at our traditions and practices of
early schooling through the age of twelve or so. There is little to
come after, whether of joys or miseries, that is not prefigured in
these years."
- David Hawkins (2001) in "The Roots of Literacy" p.
3.

"Data from the National Assessment of Educational
Progress show that
more than 40 percent of the variation in average reading scores and 46
percent of the variation in average math scores across states is
associated with variation in child poverty rates. . . . . Can anyone
credibly believe that the mediocre overall performance of American
students on international tests is unrelated to the fact that
one-fifth of American children live in poverty?"
- Ladd & Fiske (2011)

"For the short
term, preparing teachers in mathematics and science is a wise and
useful step toward improving schools. [But] as quickly as possible, we
must understand the link between poverty and educational outcomes in
the U.S., devise solutions, and finally test and implement them.
. . . . I hope that proponents of teacher quality and charter
schools will recognize the weakness of a single-minded approach before
it is too late, and that we will not damage public education, let down
our most vulnerable students, and lose technical leadership we take
for granted."

Hake, R.R. 2013a.
"Barriers to Better K-12 Math Education: Poverty and the
Inadequate Undergraduate Education of Prospective K-12 Teachers,"
online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/V6azOZ>.
Post of 16 Jan 2013 15:40:33 -0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The
abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to
several discussion lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff"
at <http://bit.ly/SPOkQ8> with a provision for
comments.

Hake, R.R. 2013b.
"Effects of Poverty on U.S. Children's Educational Achievement
Redux" online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
<http://bit.ly/VC0jza>. Post of 19 Jan 2013 09:49:56-0800 to
AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract and link to the complete post are
being transmitted to several discussion lists and are also on my blog
"Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/Verm2r> with a
provision for comments.

Hawkins, D. 2001.
"The Roots of Literacy." University of Colorado Press.
Amazon.com information at <http://amzn.to/h3cbtf>.

Marder, M. 2012.
"Failure of U.S. Public Secondary Schools in Mathematics,"
Journal of Scholarship and Practice 9(1): 8-25; the entire issue is
online as a 2.7 MB pdf at <http://bit.ly/KPitWM>, scroll down to
page 8.